Patrice Bergeron has been called many things, but the term “warrior” continues to surface, and rightfully so — with all due respect to the men and women in the military.
Bergeron was not only playing through a broken rib, torn cartilage and a separated shoulder during the Stanley Cup Final, but it was revealed by Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli that the B’s center also has a “small hole in his lung.”
Bergeron “was a warrior,” head coach Claude Julien said during the news conference. “I can’t say enough about his performance and what he did while being injured.”
The lung injury didn’t happen during a game, however.
“I don’t know exactly what had happened, but he couldn’t have played if it had happened during the game, so it may have happened after,” Chiarelli said. “We caught it and it was like he had a pain in his lung and we brought him to the hospital.”
“[Bergeron’s] willingness to play in that game and to leave it all out there is really impressive,” Milan Lucic said. “Playing through what he played through and his will to win … that’s why he’s one of our main leaders in this hockey club. He’s shown how important of a player he is. And it was pretty inspirational to see him suck it up and play Game 6, and I think that’s why we had such a great start. Hopefully he can get some much-needed rest here and heal up his injury 100 percent, too, so he’s ready to go next year.”
